Ramblings
Dirty Rice Stuffed Collard Greens
Collard Greens have to be one of my favorite things in the world.
They have been ever since I was little and I would eat them at my Grandma’s house.
My first memory of eating collards was me wanting to try them because my Dad was eating them.
I tried a lot of things when I was little just because my Dad liked them. Perhaps, even some things I shouldn’t have when he wasn’t looking!
I did a recipe for Collards called “Easy Peasy Collard Greens” a while back.
Check them out here if you missed them.
The other night for Valentine’s Day dinner, I decided to make a recipe I had done a while back.
I made The Neely’s, Dirty Rice Stuffed Collard Greens.
I love Dirty Rice.
To my surprise, it wasn’t hard to fix. If you have never had Dirty Rice and want to try it before you make it, Bojangles make a great version.
I decided to replace the regular white rice with brown.
Personally, I don’t think you can tell a difference and it’s better for you.
To assemble the Collard Greens, I took a 1/4 cup of the Dirty Rice and placed it in the center of the Collard Green leaf that I had simmered for 5 minutes to soften.
Fold over one side.
Then the other.
Then roll up.
This is what they should look like when rolled up. *Don’t be discouraged if you have some that tear.
As long as you get them into the pan semi together, you will be fine. I had one tear but it was fine.
Pour prepared tomatoe sauce (recipe to follow) into the bottom of a 9 x 13 pan.
Line the rolled up Collard Greens into the pan on top of the sauce.
Top with remaining sauce.
And bake at 350 degrees for 40 minutes.
As you can see, it doesn’t look much different than it did before you cooked it, but it is oh soooo good!
The sweet tomatoe sauce paired with the Collard Greens is AMAZING!
This was our Valentine’s Day dinner. I did Wine Braised Oxtail paired with the Collard Greens and some Artisan Bread.
The recipe for the Oxtails, I will never share.
I didn’t care for it even though the rest of the family did.
My oldest daughter looked like a Cave Man eating hers. (It wasn’t pretty!)
Just keepin it real because some recipes work out and some don’t and I don’t share unless it is a homerun.
I DO , however, hope you will try the Collard Greens.
This one, my friends, is a GRAND SLAM!
*Note: The recipe calls for Pork Sausage, but I’m going to try Turkey Sausage next time and see if it changes the taste too much. It is better for you and has less fat.
*If you have any questions about the recipe, please email me or leave a comment.
xoxo,
Esther
Recipe: Dirty Rice Stuffed Collard Greens
Total Time: 1 hr 45 min
Prep: 15 min
Cook: 1 hr 30 min
Ingredients
Sauce:
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 large onion, chopped
- 1 (28-ounce) can plain tomato sauce
- 1/4 cup brown sugar
- 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
Filling:
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
- 1/2 pound pork sausage, casing removed
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 large onion, chopped
- 2 stalks celery, chopped
- 1 medium green bell pepper, chopped
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 1 cup chicken broth
- 1/4 teaspoon cayenne
- 2 cups cooked brown rice
- 1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley leaves
- 1 bunch collard greens, about 12 leaves, stalks discarded
Directions
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
Sauce:
Saute the onion in oil in a heavy-bottomed saucepan over medium-high heat, until softened. Stir in the tomato sauce, brown sugar, apple cider vinegar, salt and pepper. Let simmer for 15 minutes.
Filling:
Heat the oil in a heavy-bottomed saute pan over medium-high heat. Add the pork and brown. Once browned, add the garlic, onion, celery, and green bell pepper. Cook until softened, about 5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper, to taste. Add the chicken broth and cayenne. Stir in the cooked rice and parsley, mixing thoroughly and letting the broth reduce until there is no moisture left in the pan. Taste and season with salt and pepper, if necessary.
In a large pot of boiling salted water, over medium heat, add the collard leaves and cook until tender, about 5 minutes. Drain and rinse with cold water.
Lay a collard leaf out on a flat surface and add 1/4 cup of the dirty rice into the center. Fold both the sides into the center and the top and bottom over the center. Roll into a cylinder and repeat with the remaining leaves. If there are any remaining leaves you can chop them up and add to the sauce.
Pour a 1/2-inch layer of sauce into a 13 by 9-inch casserole dish. Arrange the collard rolls, seam sides down, on top of the sauce. Pour the remaining sauce over the stuffed collards and cover with foil. Bake in the preheated oven for 40 minutes. Remove from the oven and serve.
Master Bedroom
I have been wanting to do a post for a while about my Master Bedroom.
It took a little while longer than I wanted to complete it and I really shouldn’t even call it complete yet.
I still need to get my curtains up, but I just couldn’t wait any longer.
The reason for this is because I went totally different than I normally would with the paint color.
I wanted something “Sultry” for the Master.
Z told me that if I said that word one more time, he was going to Puke!
Hey! Can’t a girl dream?
It’s always nice to know his Flame still burns for me????…..
Anyway, I know it’s not complete yet.
I haven’t put anything on the walls besides the TV. (Had to have the TV!)
The light coming through the windows is actually lightening up the color in the picture above.
It’s actually darker than the picture really shows.
We painted the wall, crown, and ceiling all different colors.
A lot of times, people forget about “the fifth wall”. (That is what they call the ceiling)
What most do not realize is how much it can do for a room when you choose to paint the ceiling.
It can either cozy up really high ceilings or it can just make such a bold statement.
You can either use a flat paint which will cover easier, or you can go with an Eggshell.
Eggshell will reflect the light really well on a sunny day, but it is harder to work with and will show any flaws you have in the ceiling.
For a DIYer, it’s best to go with flat.
I thought it best to give the man of the house the masculine dresser and just to make sure he knows which one is his,
I marked it with his initial.
You can never be too careful about these things.
Ahhhhh! Refreshing white is mine.
I love that dresser!
One always needs a fan humming at night to block out the snores of their mate and pooch!
I loooooove these pillows I picked up at Homegoods.
This is my beloved Chandelier. I drooled over this one for months before I actually pulled the trigger on it.
It is considered a “Champagne Bronze” and has glass pearls cascading down it, which I bought at The Home Depot.
I’m really excited because I just picked up the matching flush mount and the mini versions of it
for my Master Bath and Closet. ( I’ll show in a later post)
Here is another angle of it in the mirror’s reflection. I bought the mirror at Homegoods also a little while ago for only $29.
Here is another angle of the wall colors. It gives a little more accurate idea of the shade.
I will ALWAYS display my boots because I wuv them so much .
This is the view from the Master Bath, which should really be called “The Community Bath” instead.
I mean, let’s be honest here…..
Not until my children move out, will it ever truely be a Master Bath for just us.
Here is a link to the Wall Colors so you can check them out for your self:
*Keep in mind, that not all colors look the same online as they would on a wall.*
Wall – Wolf Gray by Benjamin Moore
Ceiling – Metropolitan by Benjamin Moore
Crown – Bright White (High Gloss) *Ask your paint salesman for a true Bright White (Most paint stores have a tendency to “gray” their whites)
*We used an Eggshell Paint which Z prefers to use for interiors.
If you have any questions regarding which paint to purchase for you next home project, email me and I will be more than happy to answer any questions you might have.
I’ll even ask “the expert”. ( Z )
Until Next Time…..
-Esther
Walt Disney Family Trip (Part 2)
As I was sitting here thinking about how I was going to start this post,
I began to tear up.
Now that I am a parent and know how it feels to want to give your kids everything they want….
I know how it hurts when you feel like you can’t.
Back when I was little, my parents used to take us camping at the beach all the time.
It was kind of our family thing.
Some people camp at the lake or the mountains, but the Wall’s would always camp at the beach.
In fact, it was normal for us to go for 2 weeks at a time during the summer.
Well, they didn’t have the internet then with all the great deals flashing in your face everytime you hopped on it.
My Mom and Dad always wanted to take us to Disney and it wasn’t until literally about 5 years ago, that my mom realized she probably always could have.
She just assumed that it was something that was too expensive for them to take a family of 5 to, so she never looked into it further.
Everytime I talk about our trip, she shares with me how much it breaks her heart to know that with what they would spend on our
family camping trips to The Outer Banks every summer, she could have taken the whole family to Disney World.
However, that was then and this is now and who knows…..
maybe one day I can take her to The Happiest Place on Earth. ; )
Our first actual day at a Park had to be no other than …….
Magic Kingdom, of course!
And the first thing we did when we got there was get in line for “Enchanting Tales with Belle”.
This wasn’t a ride, but actually a storytelling adventure where they have the children be involved with helping reinact how
Belle and the Beast met.
Two of the kids were happy in this picture and one wasn’t….. can you guess which one?
The only problem was everyone else had the same idea we did. LOL!
It took us 60 minutes to get in.
We thought this was going to set the mood for the day, but luckily it didn’t!
I have to say that it was well worth the wait,
because…..
Because my little baby was chosen to be “The Beast”!!!
He was adorable…. and shy…… and TERRIFIED!
He was fine until the Pretty Belle started to talk to him.
The shoulders went stiff and he couldn’t speak a word.
He did manage to come out of it at the end and smile for the pictures, but they said no flash
photography, so unfortunately, this is the only shot I got.
You can, however, go online to Disney’s PhotoPass and order their pictures they take.
I probably will, but I haven’t yet.
From there, we quickly learned that if the kids are asking about something A LOT, then you best
take them to the ride and get it over with in order to maintain your sanity!
SO!
Our next stop had to be ……
The Haunted Mansion!
We loooooove that movie. Eddie Murphy is hilarious and the dead Master of the house doesn’t hurt the eyes either.
Anyhoo!
I love all the props leading up to the entrance. They even have interactive things to touch along the way.
I have to note that from here on out, the lines weren’t really bad at all.
I think the 60 minute wait at Belle’s was just the fact that everyone wanted to be in Fantasy Land.
Even Mr. Moose got in on the action.
BOO!
We went to Magic Kingdom on two different days. I have to say that I am soooo glad we did.
It is by far, the biggest Park and we really needed two whole days to do the whole thing.
Our AMAZING travel agent, Kim put together an itinerary for us to have in the parks.
I’m talking Major Itinerary!!!
She told us where to go first, second and so on. She told us what time to be there to do that first, second and so on.
She told us when the best time to get a Fast Pass would be.
It was like we had her next to us, holding our hand the entire time.
I gave a link to her site in my earlier post, but in case you missed it, here it is again.
I loved seeing the excitement on the kid’s faces everytime I turned around.
Even the “Big Kid’s” too!
On to our next adventure, Animal Kingdom! (*MOO!)
I have to say that this was probably our favorite Park.
It was definitely smaller than the other ones. (Atleast it felt that way.)
Which, by the way, we didn’t mind.
Since returning, I have heard from a lot of other people that it was their’s as well.
We started off the day with a Safari.
This, by the way, took no time at all to get to the front of the line.
They must have had a million of those cars, the way they came up so fast.
We saw Giraffes….
Elephants……
What I hoped would be followed by a fence…..
Then we rode this (Mt. Everest), which I thought I would only have to do once…
until my 9 yr. old said, “Hey mom! We still have two Fast Passes!”
Then my stomach began to roll and then we got in line again.
Can I just say that Animal Kingdom has it goin on!?!
In the center of the park, there is a big playground with ONE entrance and ONE exit!
And the BIGGEST SANDBOX I have ever seen where you can “dig for fossils”!
We rested there while the kids just ran crazy!
This was probably my favorite thing in The Animal Kingdom.
I’m pretty obsessed with Trees. When I say obsessed,
I mean REALLY CRAZY OBSESSED!
The Tree of Life is what they call this tree. It is just breath taking.
I almost felt like I was in a scene from Avatar.
If you look closely, you can see all the animal’s faces that have been carved into the side of it.
AMAZING!
We decided not to go with a stroller, so this is a scene that occurred quite often.
Z didn’t mind though. Just a Daddy and his little boy.
By the last day, we were all tired. Especially the smallest one.
We saw very little of Hollywood Studios because of this.
If I had to make a suggestion, I would say this…..
If you have smaller children, maybe think about taking a break in between a few days.
By that, I mean hang out around your Hotel.
Maybe go see a movie.
(We didn’t do this.)
So, by the last day, when little ones who are used to getting a nap during the day and didn’t……
finally had a meltdown….
we decided that next time we would not only take a break,
but we would incorporate a pit stop at the beginning of the trip and one at the end.
I’m so glad we did this trip. I do not regret one single thing.
Except for maybe the nap thing. 🙂
It truely IS the Happiest Place on Earth!
Until next time…….
Love,
Esther
*I want to note that we went during January and during the week when the lines are not as long and it is considered their “off season”. Some of the eateries inside the parks
were closed, but not enough to really notice. Lines are always longer during Holidays and breaks when children are out of school. Please keep this in mind
when planning your trip.
Disney World Family Trip (Part 1)
We FINALLY made it to Disney World!
We are that family that says every year, “THIS is the year we are going! We are ! We REALLY are going to do it this year!”
Then that time comes and goes and we say, “So!……………Next year?”
Well, this one kind of just happened.
Z and I had planned on going and taking advantage of the Holiday weekend recently and decided to
ship the kids off to my mom and dad’s and take off for a Romantic weekend to the Mountains.
BUT!
Because we are the CRAZIEST, COOLEST, MOST AWESOMEST parents in the world…..
we decided to go to Disney World instead.
Not only that,
we convinced the babies that THEY were going to the Mountains too.
The morning we were leaving, we decided to let them in on the little surprise.
At first, they were shocked,
then they were in disbelief,
then my little one told me that it was ok!
We could just go to the Mountains after we go to Disney World. (How nice of him and his Large Bank Account!)
We made a pit stop in Savannah for the night and then the next day, we were off to “The Happiest Place on Earth!”
Since this was the first time we were doing this, I had to ask for help.
I didn’t know anything, so I turned to some friends who then gave me the sweetest travel agent’s info.
Her name is Kimberly Hill with Mouse Tales Travel.
I thought she would have tips for us, but I had no idea how much she would actually do for us!
(More on that later!)
Her company specializes in all things Disney. Whether you want to go to the Parks or want to do a cruise, she can plan it all for you.
Did you know they even have Disney Trips to other countries?
Might try that out when the kids get a few years older.
If you want, check out her site here.
On the way from Savannah to Disney, I was trying to get the kids excited about getting there, so I decided to video tape them.
If only I didn’t have to deal with my crazy husband…
Here is the video I took.
Try to make it to the end…… it’s worth it!
Now that you see how crazy my husband can be, let’s move on. : D
We stayed at The Art of Animation.
Our hotel ROCKED!
Even though I don’t really have anything else to compare it too, I think you can agree that anything “themed” is a win win for Families!
The hotel was themed in Finding Nemo, The Lion King, Cars, and The Little Mermaid.
We stayed in The Lion King suite, so our whole suite looked like it.
The kids got such a kick out of everything being so BIG!
Just in case you can’t see what they are doing….
What?
Oh! You didn’t know they were over the top models?
PUT YOUR BACK INTO IT !!!
SPIRIT FINGERS, LEE!
WHERE ARE YOUR SPIRIT FINGERS????!!!!!??????
(*I swear I’m not a “Stage Mom”????)
They even had an “elephant boneyard” to climb and explore in.
This was perfect for my climbers.
This one especially! She climbs on EVERYTHING!
I definitely wouldn’t want to run into one of these guys while out strolling around.
OR! One of these!
Since, we didn’t get there early enough to really enjoy one of the parks that day, we decided to go to Downtown Disney.
It was VERY COOL! They had a Lego Store where there were so many Life Size Characters all made out of ….. you guessed it…..Legos!
ROAR!
No wonder they call this the Happiest Place on Earth! This was my happiest place!
Well, that was our first day!
I’m going to break this up into a few more posts because there is so much to cover.
I promise I will try not to be boring.
Well, atleast not too much!
-Esther
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